How can we support students in the classroom?
Executive function is an individual’s ability to process, learn, and solve problems across different areas including:
- planning
- organization
- task initiation
- time management
- goal setting
- sustained attention
- metacognition
- flexibility
- emotional regulation, and impulse control
Many strategies can be used in the classroom to support students struggling with executive function processing. Some of these strategies can be used at the moment an executive function deficit is observed, some are pre-planned by the teacher, and some are ways to practice executive functioning skills.
When it comes to implementing executive functioning strategies in the classroom, some students may need explicit instructions and examples at first, “teachers should never assume that a student has these innate abilities” (Hodgkinson & Parks, 2016; Meltzer, 2018; Watson et al., 2016; Zelazo et al., 2016).
Click below for more information and strategies in each area:
Executive Function 